Large scale crises such as natural disasters, terrorism, or the like continue to be real threats to humanity. In many instances, natural disaster and terrorism events often trigger chaos which increases loss of life as well as damage to property. For instance, availability and response time of emergency personnel and services can be impaired if resources and infrastructures are not optimized for response as well as evacuation.
A ‘natural disaster’ refers to a consequence of a natural hazard (e.g., hurricane, tsunami, earthquake) which affects human activities. Overall vulnerability, exacerbated by the lack of planning or lack of appropriate or adequate emergency management, can lead to enhanced financial, environmental and human losses. The resulting loss is often a function of the ability of the population to support or resist the effects of the disaster. For example, crisis response procedures are often implemented to assist emergency personnel and services to address crisis situations.
One of the most notable natural disasters was a Category 5 hurricane, Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall on the north-central Gulf Coast on Aug. 28, 2005. This hurricane was one of the strongest, costliest and one of the five deadliest hurricanes in United States (U.S.) history. The most severe loss of life and property damage occurred in New Orleans, La., which flooded as the levee system catastrophically failed as a result of the storm. In addition to the damage and loss of life that occurred in Louisiana, Katrina caused severe destruction across the entire Mississippi coast and into Alabama. Overall, the destruction spanned as far as 100 miles from the storm's center.
In Louisiana, the federal flood protection system in New Orleans reportedly failed in more than fifty places. Nearly every levee in metro New Orleans breached as Hurricane Katrina passed east of the city, subsequently flooding 80% of the city and many areas of neighboring parishes for weeks. As a result of Hurricane Katrina, at least 1,836 people lost their lives, making it the deadliest U.S. hurricane of recent times. In addition to the loss of life, the storm is estimated to have been responsible for over $80 billion in damage, making it the costliest natural disaster in United States history.
As a result of this storm, criticism as well as blame has been projected upon many individuals, groups and governmental agencies with respect to emergency response performance and procedures. Particularly, there was widespread criticism of the federal, state and local governments' reaction to the storm, which ultimately resulted in an investigation by the U.S. Congress. Essentially, many believe that if a more organized and expeditious response was triggered, the death toll as well as property damage could have been minimized.
In addition to natural disasters, today, terrorism has become a viable and growing threat to humanity. In the modern sense, ‘terrorism’ refers to violence against civilians most often to achieve political or ideological objectives by establishing fear in innocent victims. Terrorism includes those acts which are intended to create fear, are perpetrated for an ideological goal rather than to an isolated attack, and which deliberately target or disregard the safety of civilians. Additionally, terrorism is sometimes described as a form of unconventional warfare and/or psychological warfare. Historically, terrorism has been used by a broad array of political organizations in furthering their objectives or agendas. Organizations that employ terrorism to further their objective include, but are not limited to, political parties, religious groups, revolutionaries, governments, among others.
One of the most notable acts of terrorism was the attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. This attack, which occurred on Sep. 11, 2001, involved a series of coordinated suicide strikes upon the U.S. by an organized terrorist group, namely, al-Qaeda. On the morning of September 11, nineteen al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. The hijackers, some of which had flight training, intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. These crashes resulted in the collapse of both buildings soon afterward as well as extensive damage to nearby buildings. The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia. Passengers aboard a fourth hijacked airliner attempted to regain control of their plane from the hijackers. Tragically, the fourth plane crashed into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, killing all passengers as well as the hijackers.
As a result of these acts of terrorism, in addition to the 19 hijackers, 2,974 people died as an immediate result of the attacks with another 24 missing and presumed dead. Therefore, the number of immediate victims totaled 2,998, the overwhelming majority of whom were civilians. As was the case with Hurricane Katrina, the response to the event was scrutinized, analyzed and questioned with respect to effectiveness and adequacy. Overall, the response to the collapse of the buildings was viewed as satisfactory or even better. However, with more efficient organization, response policies and procedures, the overall response to the tragedy might have been even more effective.